Abstract
Introduction: Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues that hold your teeth in place. It's typically caused by poor brushing and flossing habits that allow plaque, a sticky film of bacteria, to build up on the teeth and harden. Elimination of these pathogens from the site of infection remains a perplexing task, which demands the use of antibiotics. The emergence of drug resistant forms has spurred interest into identifying novel therapeutic targets against these pathogens.
 Aim: The present study employs virtual screening method to identify the protein network interaction of berberine with red complex pathogens.
 Materials and Methods: Computational tools were used to identify the targets, assess their functional role and virulence property. Further, the peptide epitopes present in the virulence factors were identified using the BepiPred tool. The subcellular location of the virulence proteins was also elucidated using PSORTb.
 Results: Berberine was found to target vital protein transporters such as TetR family transcriptional regulator and MerR family transcriptional regulator, which is known to play a crucial role in the survival of bacterial cells.
 Conclusion: Hence the present study provides preliminary data on the protein targets of berberine against red complex pathogens. However, in vitro studies using the compound is warranted to further confirm the efficacy of the compound.
Highlights
Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues that hold your teeth in place
Periodontal diseases are complex infections exerted by a multiplex of bacterial species that interchange with host tissues and cells, causing the release of an extensive array of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and mediators, some of which lead to the destruction of the periodontal structures, including the tooth-supporting tissues, alveolar bone, and periodontal ligament [1]
VICMpred [12] and VirulentPred [13] pipelines were used for the identification of virulence factors targeted by berberine among the red complex pathogens
Summary
It's typically caused by poor brushing and flossing habits that allow plaque, a sticky film of bacteria, to build up on the teeth and harden. Elimination of these pathogens from the site of infection remains a perplexing task, which demands the use of antibiotics. Aim: The present study employs virtual screening method to identify the protein network interaction of berberine with red complex pathogens. Bacteria are analogous with periodontal disease that trigger inflammatory responses in the immune cells, which in later stages of the disease causes loss of both soft and hard tissue structures supporting the teeth [2]. The red complex, which appears later during biofilm development, comprises species that are considered periodontal pathogens
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